Italian ban on plastic bags in New Year

Businesses in Italy won't be allowed to sell or give out plastic bags from 1 January. Italians currently use 20 billion plastic bags a year more than 300 per person. The law has taken a decade to pass but from the start of the new year shops and cafes will have to abide by it, or face fines.

In May 2003, South Africa set the pace by banning thinner plastic bags as well as imposing levies on thicker ones.Eritrea, Rwanda and Somalia banned plastic bags in 2005.Tanzania (including Zanzibar) introduced a total ban on the carriers in 2006. Kenya and Uganda in mid-2007 banned thinner plastic bags and imposed levies on thicker ones.

In the US, San Francisco became the first city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets and pharmacies in March 2007. Several months later the rest of California passed laws requiring large supermarkets to take back and recycle plastic bags.

Since theRepublic of Ireland passed a law in 2002 charging shoppers for every plastic bag, use of the carriers has plummeted by 90%. France plans to impose an outright ban by 2010. The country's biggest supermarket groups, like Carrefour, voluntarily stopped distributing free plastic bags in March 2007. Belgium imposed a tax on free bags in July 2007.Switzerland requires supermarkets to charge shoppers for bags. In the UK, the town of Modbury in Devon became the first place in Britain to outlaw plastic bags in April 2007. Others plan to follow suit. In February 2008, one of Britain's biggest retailers, Marks and Spencer, said it would stop handing out free plastic bags. Spain is planning to halve the consumption of plastic bags by 2009. In Germany andHolland, most supermarkets already charge for bags.

In 2002, Bangladesh imposed an outright ban on all thinner plastic bags in the capital, Dhaka, after they were found to have choked the drainage system during devastating floods. The measure triggered a revival of the local jute bag industry. In India Mumbai banned plastic bags in 2000 and the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh made thinner bags illegal in 2003.